Health Care Decision Making Tips For Old Age

Health Care Decision Making

We hope you find this guest blog on this important subject useful. Use what you learn in a weighted decision matrix template.

There is nothing more socially demeaning than becoming a liability to others at old age. This is very embarrassing especially after having a long and fulfilling working career. Your old age should be a blessing and not a curse since not many people get to see old age especially with the increase in terminal illnesses and changing lifestyles. If you don’t plan now then you will not enjoy your sunset years. During this period in life you don’t require a lot just the basic needs but your health tops the list. This is because as you age your body develops many complications and you will require regular medical checkup. All said and done you need not to worry as it is quite easy to plan for old age healthcare.

Important tips to remember

  • Start saving early for retirement

The earlier you start saving the more money you will have saved by the time you are retiring. Saving is very important even for your health care because at some point you will require to get some money from your own pockets to pay for some medical related expense. Let no one lie to you that you can find an insurance company that pays for everything. No matter how attractive the policy looks like at some point you will have to chip in

  • Start paying for Insurance early

If you start paying for insurance premiums when you are still young and energetic they tend to be lower. Insurance companies charge premiums according to risk hence a 65 year old man is more riskier to cover than an energetic 30 year old hence the older you are the more you pay.

  • Choice of Insurance Company

There is nothing sadder than all your lifetime savings going down the drain when a bank collapses. This is not an alien thing as it has happened many times before especially in the period of economic crisis. And Insurance companies are also business entities and are not immune to this and so you should ensure you take your health cover with a solid company. Benefit of a solid company is that even if it collapses there are avenues to recover your insurance money.

  • Healthy living

Healthy living is arguably the best health care decision you can make for your old age. It makes logical sense that when you lead a healthy life you will reduce your chances of getting ailments like heart attack and stroke which mostly affect people at old age. Choose to live healthy when you are young and you will not have to worry about your health in your sunset years.

Benefits of planning of old age health care

  • Reduces over dependence on your children and other relatives.
  • Ensures you retire gracefully and enjoy your sunset years.
  • Makes you free to explore the world and enjoy yourself without having to worry about your health.
  • Saves you a lot of money in the long run that you would have spent on your health.

It’s never too late or too early to start planning for your old age healthcare. You can start now by first getting your NI Card (national insurance number card) this is should be the first step in securing your health at old age.

How meditation helps you to take better decisions

Preparation for decision making should include getting into the right mindset. We hope this guest blog will help you before you start your weighted decision matrix.

It has emerged that meditation is the best thing to do before making an important decision. According to several independent research papers, meditation helps you to make better decisions. Investigators found out that in fact, people who take some time to meditate regularly are more likely to make rational and unbiased decisions when faced with a critical decision-making situation.

Sunk cost bias
Experts have described the sunk cost bias scenario in psychological terms, as the situation where one is unwittingly influenced by past experiences that shouldn’t have a bearing on the present. According to experts, past experiences, coupled with the awareness of future outcomes, contribute immensely to the manner in which present decisions are made. This is true even when the past experiences are not necessarily related to the present situation. For example, if you have just broken up with your spouse, or lost a loved one, you might not be able to make a rational decision at your workplace, even though it is a totally different scenario.
Actually the irony is that we don’t want to admit when it is our fault that things have gone wrong in the past, yet it is this awareness, and the fear that things might go wrong again, that clouds our judgment of present issues.

Focus on the present
Meditating for a few minutes will help you to be clear of such thoughts when making a decision. What happens is that the mind shifts to a complete focus on the present, where past events and future expectations have no influence. This way, one is able to think straight and make a practical decision on the issue at hand. Earlier researches have concluded that meditation changes the physical state of the brain. By releasing the accumulated stress, the brain is left more sharp and fresh, and in a better state to function properly. Actually, meditation helps the mind to drop some the tendencies it might have acquired due to interactions with other people and situations.

Regular meditation
It is especially easy if one meditates regularly, and not just in such a situation. If you meditate on a regular basis, then it means that your brain is frequently refreshed. Therefore, even just a short session of mindfulness will keep you alert. Furthermore, sometimes one is in a situation where they can’t have time to meditate before making a decision. In such a situation, you are more likely to make a great decision if you have been meditating regularly.

Intuition
Furthermore, it has been found that meditation induces a new dimension of perceptiveness and intuition in the mind, making it easy for one not only to be intelligent and intuitive in their decisions, but to be creative too. This means that one can come up with refreshing new ways of handling situations.
This study has brought even more attention to the importance of meditation for EHIC users and for the general public. And there are limitless benefits of just a few minutes of deep mindfulness. If you have not been meditating, then this is one more reason why you need to start.

Author Bio:
Olivia Richards is a Passionate blogger. She works on behalf of Ehic. She has been writing contents on the web professionally since 2006. As an avid reader and blogger she shares her experience through articles on Health, Education, Parenting and many more.

A Tough Decision – Deciding on the Right Fire Extinguisher for the Job

Fire Extinguisher

A guest blog by John Garland. Use a weighted decision matrix template to help with your fire safety decisions.

All fire extinguishers aren’t alike and there are different fire extinguishers for different types of fire. For example, a person should never use a fire extinguisher filled with water on a grease fire.

Most fire extinguishers can be found in hardware stores or home centers. There are four basic types of fire extinguisher and some of them can put out more than one fire.

Types of Extinguishers
The “A” class fire extinguisher is used for run of the mill combustibles like wood or paper. The “B” class extinguishers are used to put out fires from liquids like grease, propane and paint, while the “C” class extinguishers are made to put out electrical fires. “D” class extinguishers are there to put out fires from metals like magnesium, sodium, potassium and aluminum. Some extinguishers have the logo AB or ABC on their label. Because of this versatility, these are the best sorts of fire extinguishers to use in a home.

Fire extinguishers are most commonly filled with these substances:

Dry Chemicals
Dry chemicals can include sodium bicarbonate, ammonium phosphate, potassium bicarbonate and potassium chloride. This is usually a multiple use extinguisher.

Foams
Foams literally smother a fire and are used for “A” and “B” class fires.

Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide is usually found in “B” and “C” class extinguishers. It doesn’t leave any residue to clean up.

Halocarbons
Halocarbons also leave no residue to clean up and are usually used in industrial fires. Halocarbons actually stop the fire at the chemical level by disrupting the processes that lead to the fire.

Water
Water is ideal for putting out “A” class fires. People might wonder why a modern home needs a water filled fire extinguisher. It’s because it’s more convenient to grab an extinguisher and put out the fire than waiting to fill up a pot or other vessel from a tap. The water in an extinguisher is also under pressure.

After the extinguishers are used, they’ll need to be recharged. The homeowner’s local fire department can do this. The homeowner will know that the extinguisher needs recharging because the arrow on the canister is in the red zone. If the arrow is in the green zone, there’s enough pressure in the extinguisher. The homeowner should check the extinguisher at least once a month to make sure it’s still pressurized and shake it to keep the chemicals from solidifying.

A fire extinguisher should be kept in a readily accessible place in the home, but should be kept away from heat. Heat can degrade its contents.

A homeowner should never try to fight a large fire by him or herself. In case of a large fire, the house should be evacuated and members of the household should be reminded to shut the doors behind them. The household should, in fact, have an evacuation plan. This includes a place where they all meet after they’re safely out of the house.

The fire department should not only be called for large fires but for small ones that seem to have been put out by a fire extinguisher. Some fires can reignite.

For more articles about the types of fire extinguishers available, visit EssentialFireSafety.co.uk.

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